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The State of Minnesota has garnered immense backlash online after selecting their new flag. Many believe that the new banner is similar to that of the Jubaland, a region in Somalia. Netizens believe that the U.S. state’s identity has seemingly been erased with the selection of the new banner.
As many compare the two streamers, some have also speculated that the Minnesota flag looks similar to that of Somalia’s Puntland flag.
A Minnesota state commission selected their latest design that features a dark blue silhouette accented by a white eight-point North Star.
Other nuances of the flag include a horizontal triangle pattern with green, light blue, and white colored stripes. The flag design was created by Luverne resident Andrew Prekker.
According to Axios, the flag decision was made just two weeks prior to the commission’s deadline.
X (formerly known as Twitter) user @Oilfield_Rando was one of the many who noted that the new flag resembled that of Jubaland, which is a region in Somalia. The Jubaland flag has similar colors including green, blue, and white. It also boasts a white star without the dark blue silhouette like that of the Minnesota flag.
The netizen’s tweet had amassed nearly three million views at the time of writing this article.
New Minnesota flag also draws comparisons to Somalia’s Puntland flag
Not only does the latest design look similar to that of Jubaland's but also Somalia’s Puntland region as well. In the latter, the green, light blue and white stripes are placed horizontally with a white star being featured on the topmost blue strip.
Republican social media page End Wokeness was one out of the many who revealed the same. They also noted that popular Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar hailed from Puntland.
At the time of writing this article, the tweet had amassed nearly 3.5 million views.
However, the creator of the new state flag shared that he simply drew inspiration from the flags of other states, especially from those that were known for their simplicity and memorability like that of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Colorado, amongst others.
Speaking about why he chose to include the North Star, Prekker said that he wanted to portray the state’s motto, L'etoile Du Nord, which means “star of the north” and it’s rich history.
Prekker also revealed that while creating his design, there was a reason behind choosing the colors used. White reportedly resembled snow and winter, the green strip symbolized the state’s greenery and it’s importance of agriculture, and the light blue stripe showed off the significant role of water in the state.
For those unversed, Minnesota is best known for being the land of 10,000 lakes.
Nonetheless, netizens took to the internet to opine that Minnesota was losing it’s cultural heritage by having a flag similar to that of Somalia’s.
“We are being replaced”: Netizens react to the new state flag
Internet users took to X to criticize the latest design. Many believed that the state’s identity was getting erased. A few reactions read:
The commission is yet to meet again tomorrow to finalize specific details. Unless the Legislature vetos the design, the flag will be flying in May 2024. Meanwhile, a new state seal is also being worked out. It will reportedly feature the state’s bird, the loon, and also include Dakota’s phrase- “Mni Sóta Makoce” which translates to “where the water meets the sky.”
